The Galaxy Note 9 Bixby key may get a disable option by the end of September. Samsung Germany confirmed the button to a disgruntled Note 9 customer.
Bixby arrived in the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ after some weeks of additional development. All has not been smooth sailing since Bixby’s arrival on the market last year, however. Some Android fans disapprove of Samsung’s own proprietary AI, believing Google Assistant to be superior. Though Samsung believes in its own AI, it also believes in appeasing customers — even if it means releasing an update to kill the Bixby button on its high-end devices. The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 received their “kill Bixby” updates. The Galaxy Note 9 still remains absent from the disabling “fun.”
Samsung announced the next-generation Galaxy Note last month alongside Bixby 2.0. The same Bixby disgust is still present for some users, even with the second major AI update. So, what is Samsung to do? Provide a Bixby key disable option for the new “Swiss Army knife” phone.
Max, a Galaxy Note 9 user, recently inquired about a Bixby disable option. He was given the following response by Samsung Germany:
Though the statement is a bit confusing to read, it says that a disable Bixby option will return at the end of September.
Samsung’s capitulation for a disable Bixby option is perceived by some to be a lack of faith in its own technology, but it is more of a desire to appease customers and buyers than anything else. After all, Samsung believes in Bixby, even to the point of bringing its Galaxy Home to market with Bixby integration. Samsung is making the case for Google to come along and help improve Bixby by arguing that it sells more smartphones than any other OEM (which is true). These actions alone show a confident Samsung rather than a company ashamed of its own AI.
At the same time, Samsung realizes that some Galaxy Note 9 customers would rather not encounter Bixby. The company known for going the last mile to please its customers finds itself doing the same thing again for the more Google-devoted among us.
